


Love Is Like Falling (Through Thin Ice)

by Nillegible



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Attempted Suicide by OC, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Misunderstandings, Near Drowning, Past Attempted Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-04-03 16:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4106934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nillegible/pseuds/Nillegible
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a silly spat, Charles and Erik aren't speaking to each other. A week later, Charles gets a call from the hospital that reminds him that some things are too important to let go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Is Like Falling (Through Thin Ice)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone. This is my first fanfic for X-Men first class, and first fic on AO3, so bear with me. It's un-betaed, so if you have a moment and see something that needs to be fixed, please do say so.

Charles' flat was depressingly empty.

Most of his things had long since migrated to Erik's house; his flat existed only for the days he was too lazy to drive the twenty minutes from campus to Erik's house after a particularly long lab, and for Raven and her friends to stay in when they visited. Charles had never been quite ready to unleash their particular brand of madness on Erik.

It seems ridiculous now, Charles decides, lying on Erik's couch (they'd swapped them since his was more comfortable, but Erik's was too new to throw away) in his darkened living room. Perhaps if Erik had met Alex, Sean, and Angel before, then he would have understood. He tries to shut his traitorous mind up. Charles had explained what had - or hadn't- happened. He’s dying to call Erik up, to drive over to his place -their place- to yell at him until he sees sense and then kiss him. Charles hasn't seen or heard from the other man in three days, and it’s slowly driving him insane.

Charles doesn't know how long he's been lying there, as though not moving would make the shattered pieces of his heart fall back in place. When his phone rings, with Erik's distinct tone, Charles gets up so fast his head spins. He answers, excited-terrified-hopeful-tentative, softly, "Erik?"

"Is this Charles Xavier?" asks an unfamiliar woman's voice.

"I'm sorry who-Yes, I'm Charles-but who is this?" Charles was beyond confused.

"I'm calling from Saint Margarets hospital, Mr. Lensherr is fine, not hurt. He had a little accident earlier today though, and it would be great if you could come pick him up."

"What? Is he okay? Gods, what happened?" Charles doesn't know what to say. He can hardly hear the voice over the buzzing in his ears.

"He's fine but his car's still at the park so he needs a ride. He told me not to bother you but-" Charles hears indistinct angry voices, "Sorry have to go!"

"WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?" Charles half-bellows, already shrugging his coat on and opening his front door.

"He jumped in the lake, dear, he-"

The line goes silent. Then his phone beeps nauseatingly at him.

__________

Erik was wandering through the snow at the park.. The air was bitingly cold, and getting colder as time wore on but he couldn't go home. He couldn't, because he'd thrown Charles out three days ago, and he hadn't yet apologized. He wanted to, but he didn't know how. The things he'd said had been...cruel. More cruel then ever before, and Charles had never not called just because they had fought. Erik was too scared to call Charles, because he couldn't bear knowing for certain that they were done. And he couldn't go back to their house because it was theirs and there were memories of Charles everywhere.

Not that Erik could really escape Charles. He'd been thinking about him for three days straight, and so were other people. He'd gotten a disgusted look from Tony this morning, when he tried to suggest a new feature for the next Starkpad series. Even Pepper had decided to be coolly professional- and not nearly as helpful as she usually was. Erik hadn't spoken to anyone but those two since the fight.

Erik wandered by the lake edge and saw that the ice was dark and foreboding -nothing like the lovely pale blue the previous year when he had taken Charles ice-skating... Erik was startled out of his reverie when he saw a figure walk out onto the ice. "Hey!" he yelled. "Hey, GET OFF THE ICE." It was far too early for the ice to be thick enough to hold a person's weight. The kid, maybe sixteen, if Erik could judge a figure bundled in a heavy coat and scarf -would weigh him down if he fell in - turned to look at Erik, then shuffled on. Erik realized the kid had been crying. Great.

"STOP! Look at me. Kid, lie down on your front, NOW."

"Oi, I don't know what your problem is, but I promise you it's going to be okay. Really, just get off the ice you're going to kill yourself." Which might have been the point, but Erik didn't know what to say to get the kid to stop. If Charles was here- he thought for one futile moment. The ice was beginning to flex. Then with a strangled gasp, the kid slowly sank to all fours. Erik let out a shuddering breath as well.

"Oh my god!" said a female voice to Erik's right. Erik ignored her.

"Okay good. That’s good. Come on now. I need you to lie down on the ice, and roll back to shore," Erik said firmly. The kid had a faraway look in his eyes. As slowly as before, he lay down on the ice, but Erik realized it wasn't going to help. The ice had been faintly creaking this whole time, and it must have met its limit. "Shuffle towards me, don't stress the ice." Please, please let this work. The kid stared into Erik's eyes, and now Erik could see the terror there. A hysterical portion of his brain points out that this was far too late and then started shuffling forward. Suddenly, he kneed the ice, and vanished. There was nothing left but jagged ice, and dark icy water.

Erik quickly dialed 911, and thrust his phone at the woman who'd come over to watch. The paramedics could probably locate them within a few minutes, which wasn't enough time for the kid to get hypothermia, but he could still drown. Erik hadn't seen him surface for air even once, which suggested he'd gagged and started swallowing water already.

And so Erik, before he could lose his nerve, shrugged off his coat and shoes, dropped it in a pile and jumped in after him. The moment he hit the water, Erik seriously feared that he'd misjudged his own abilities, he struggled to keep his head above the surface as he gasped for air, even though his feet could actually touch the bottom. The cold was like- nothing he'd ever imagined, he was freezing, and burning, and his lungs were being squeezed, he couldn't breathe. No-he was hyperventilating. It took an eternity - maybe a minute- for Erik to control his breathing; to still the desperate gasping. He realized he was running out of time; the kid still wasn’t surfacing. Ducking below the surface to scramble wildly in search of the kid was one of the most frightening things Erik had ever done in his life. And the most painful.

Finally, he managed to grasp a fistful of cloth, and dragged the unresisting mass to the surface. There was no gasping for air, so Erik grit his teeth, and tried walking to the edge. It was barely a distance of eight feet, but Erik doubted that he had the strength to make it there. His heart was beating too fast, he could hardly draw breath, and his skin was burning. He couldn't feel his fingers. Turning around, he grabbed the kid's upper arms let the kid float after him on his back as he walked backwards towards the shore. When he was almost there, another pair of hands joined to help drag the limp body out of the water.

Erik would have wept with relief if his face hadn't been so numb.With trembling fingers, he checked for a pulse, but in all honesty he couldn't have told if there was or wasn't one. The woman, who Erik still hadn't got a good look at said, "He's breathing, he's breathing," and Erik realised distantly that she was still speaking to emergency services. Fortunately, he could hear yelling, and a few moments later he was surrounded by a flurry of people wearing bright yellow vests; he'd been pulled off the kid and they were crowding around him, and a lovely brunette was asking him questions, and they were bundling him up in thermal blankets, and he still couldn't stop shivering.

__________________

Charles reached the reception at St. Margaret's rather desperately. The young woman, clearly understanding his panic, quickly asked him what he needed.

"I'm here for Erik Lensherr, they said he...was in the lake?" In his head, the words 'jumped in a lake' chased each other around, and he couldn't banish them. They said he's fine he hissed back at his thoughts. It was cold comfort.

"Charles?" said a familiar voice. Charles turned to see Erik, dressed in unfamiliar clothes, exhausted, confused, surprised, and completely fine. Charles threw himself into his arms.

_______________

Erik was waiting for the cab he called, mildly annoyed with Moira, the nurse who had called Charles up. He had been hoping at least for a call back from the man. It wasn't often Erik ended up at a hospital injured or not. Was Charles really that angry at him? That was a colder thought than the lake had been. He hoped Charles didn't think he was so desperate that he'd resorted to rash heroism. Not that he wasn't desperate. He just knew Charles wouldn't be impressed by this.

Erik was warm now, although the clothes he'd been loaned were kind of uncomfortable. Even so, he was exhausted, and cranky. He wanted to get home, and wondered if Pepper could send him a car. Even if his house was still empty of Charles, even an empty bed sounded welcoming at the moment. He was on his way back to the help desk to ask after his cab (even though it had been barely five minutes since he had last asked), when he saw Charles.

"Charles?" he asked in surprise, only to have the man throw himself into Erik's arms.

It was as though Someone Up There that Erik probably doesn't even believe in had granted his wish and delivered Charles into his arms, so Erik spared some time just holding him. Eventually he realized that Charles was trembling, and pulled away in alarm. Or tried to, because Charles wasn’t letting go. "What's wrong? Charles, what's wrong?" he asked, worried. The answer was mumbled softly into his chest, but he pulled back, an unsteady hand cupping Erik's cheek. Charles’ eyes are wet, and although he wasn’t crying, he's pale.

Erik panicked. "Are you okay, Charles, what's wrong?" Erik trailed his fingers across Charles’ cheek, and then Charles seemed to snap out of whatever strange mood he was in. He turned pink. "You JUMPED in the LAKE?" he asked, in a furious whisper.

Erik will be embarrassed to recount this, so he never will, but he yelped at the fury in Charles' voice as the shorter man grabbed his arms and shook him; as though he couldn’t understand what was _wrong_ with him.

"The kid would have drowned!" Erik cried. Hopefully that was a good enough answer. Charles echoed "would have drowned." Then buried himself in Erik's arms again. Before Erik could prod him for an answer, he said, "They told me you jumped into the lake. They didn't tell me why. I thought...I thought that..." As it sank in, Erik wanted to yell at Moira. Charles had met him all those years ago when he had been an angry young man about to throw himself off a bridge because his wife and unborn daughter had died. It wouldn't have been stretching the imagination to think Erik would attempt suicide again.

Except it kind of was. Erik had grown up quite a bit since then. But Charles was still trembling and Erik soothed him, shelving the issue for another day. "I'm fine, Charles, I’m fine. And I wouldn't do that to you."

After a little more comforting, and a bit of glaring at Moira on Erik's part, and a few apologies from the nurse, Charles drove Erik home. He appeared better, though his face was still drawn. "Aren't you coming inside?" Erik asked, when Charles appeared unsure on the doorstep.

"You don't mind?" Charles asked uncertainly.

"Why would I? It's half your house too."

Charles followed Erik inside the house, after Erik extracted his keys from one of the plastic bags that his wet stuff was in. "I did just appear out of nowhere after ignoring you for a week, only to hug you and accuse you of attempting suicide," he said softly, and Erik can hardly remember why they even were fighting anymore, so he wrapped Charles in another hug, and tugged him inside. "It's late, and I'm sleepy, and I love you. We can figure out all the rest of it tomorrow, okay?" he said. Charles pecked him lightly on the cheek, and they get ready for bed.

___________________

 

Erik wakes at around four in the morning, to see Charles sitting up against the headboard, Erik's head in his lap, fingers carding through his hair. He would complain, but it's ethereal ad beautiful, and he feels more content than he has in a week so he can't just fall asleep. So they hash it out, air their grievances softly in bed, their voices low and kind even when they're accusing each other, fingers clasped tightly together even when they briefly discuss calling their relationship off.

Which they don't. They're made for each other, and when they fall silent, everything that needed to be said has been voiced, if not solved. Erik knows that he has Charles back, and it's the best thing ever. They fall asleep together, and if this warmth feels different, if it pierces deeper, and fills his whole heart, well. Erik has always been frozen without Charles.

**Author's Note:**

> I've read up as much as I could about falling through ice, shock, and hypothermia but have no idea how accurate or plausible anything I've said is. Sorry. I also want to apologize if Moira calling Charles to pick Erik up was irregular; I hope I haven't offended anyone who actually works at a hospital or with emergency services.
> 
> Hope you liked it!


End file.
